Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s speaker chaos speaks volumes

Hardline Republicans’ rebellion raises questions over House Representatives’ power to advance legislation

Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the US House of Representatives, was elected after 15 rounds of voting
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After finally being elected speaker of the US House of Representatives following a gruelling 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy joked: “That was easy, huh?”

Admittedly, that total falls far short of the record 133 ballots that were needed to elect a speaker back in 1855. But while McCarthy claimed that he wouldn’t “have a problem” with setting a new record for such votes, “one suspects he knows that needing several days and multiple votes to become speaker means he does indeed have a problem”, said NPR’s Washington correspondent Ron Elving.

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Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.